Detroit Wallpaper Co puts avant-garde spin on wallpaper

First came Great Wall Custom Coverings. Next came the Detroit Wallpaper Co, which has accelerated the growth of the Ferndale-based company.

Josh Young and Andi Kubacki started Great Wall Custom Coverings nearly a decade ago, providing custom wall paper projects that were as eclectic as their imaginations and those of their customers. They began scaling that sort of creativity last fall with the Detroit Wallpaper Co, which sells the pair's popular avant-garde wallpaper designs utilizing non-toxic and environmentally friendly supplies.

Some of those designs include patterns they are labeling as "Botanicals" (think flowers and plant patterns), "Wallgazer" (self-described as a "marriage between high concept and functional design") and "Wander Walls" (images that bring far-away locales to mind). All 63 different designs are colorful, contemporary and probably like nothing you have seen on a wall before.

"It's really a commentary on our society," Young says. "What we're really interested in is technology, music. We have a lot of pop-culture references in our designs."

The two companies employ eight people between them after hiring one person over the last year. The rising demand for Detroit Wallpaper Co's products are driving the growth in the company right now.

"It's quickly growing," Young says. "It's beginning to eclipse Great Wall already."

Source: Josh Young, co-owner of Detroit Wallpaper Co
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.